ESSENTIAL COMPILATIONS : PART THREE

A brave man indeed is one who attempts to put together a complete Gary Usher collection featuring recordings from his prolific early 60’s output – and perhaps that is why no-one, to date, has even attempted to utilise the word DEFINITIVE in the titles of the collections released so far.

This new set pulls together much, if not nearly all, of Usher’s early forays into the surf’n’drag scene when he was contracted as both artist and songwriter to Challenge Records, and the 4-Star publishing house. The Four Speeds, The Sunsets, The Competitors all feature alongside a grab-bag full of Usher demo’s and solo recordings, many appearing for the first time, although a number of these will be familiar to collectors for the ‘finished’ versions that eventually appeared under the guise of The Superstocks, The Customs or whoever. This will also be of interest, naturally, to collectors of The Beach Boys material, and not just for the nifty drumming of Dennis Wilson on a couple of cuts, or for the rare Honeys

recordings … but one of the previously unheard outtakes, “Quicksand”, was reportedly a rewrite of an earlier, unused co-composition with Brian Wilson entitled “Timber, I’m Falling For You” (now THAT’S a title …).

The accompanying, and detailed sleeve notes come courtesy of … you guessed it, a Mr Stephen McParland, and with the involvement of Gary’s family overseeing the release it really is a nice project, compiled with genuine affection for the man and his wealth of talent, and after all of the previous attempts to issue the singles featured here (how many times HAVE we bought a collection featuring the Four Speeds … too many we may well answer, despite the fantastic sounds coming from the grooves, tapes, shiny disc etc) it’s nice to finally say that this is the ONE package that covers this era nicely, and the bonus of hearing an interview with the great man himself (recorded during 1989) telling some of the stories behind the sessions adds to the overall satisfaction.

But … personally speaking, I still cannot wait for the DEFINITIVE collection to appear (including rarities and sessions from The Hondells, The Superstocks, The Knights, The Kickstands, etc etc). However, I guess that’ll involve not only the masters from Challenge, but also Capitol, Warners, Mercury … and heaven knows who else. It may never happen, it may even take a 4-disc box to cover this portion of his career satisfactorily … but if there’s the slightest possibility that one day we may hear the sessions that (almost) gave us The Ghouls near-legendary Beatles-pastiche “I Want To Hold Your Neck” then I’m prepared to wait …

**** 4-Star Recommendation

Another interesting release from the German re-issue specialists – this one concentrates around the sickle-craze that followed on from the drag-strip phenomenon … and whilst it didn’t quite catch the wave and develop quite so successfully it certainly provided a number of fun recordings. Obviously, the success of The Hondells “Little Honda” kicked it all off, and Gary Usher soon followed up with numerous bikin’ anthems from The Hondells, The Devons, The Kickstands, The Surfaris … but this 32-track set concentrates on two particular (non-Usher) albums released in that era, and then pads the disc out with associated (and I mean that word loosely) ‘filler’ …

The Risers 1964 set on Imperial, “She’s A Bad Motorcycle”, and The Hornets “Motorcycles USA” Liberty collection from the same year (both reviewed elsewhere, so I won’t go into detail) are virtually the most interesting aspects of the

collection, and are both worth the occasional listen, but the combination of the additional 8 filler tracks aren’t going to be the sole reason why you part with the cash.

Legendary guitar-aficionados and instrumentalists The Ventures provide three of the bonus offerings, “Candy Apple Racer”, “Kickstand” and “Theme From The Wild Angels”, whilst acclaimed studio drummer Earl Palmer offers up “Theme From The Wild One”, with The Gants “Road Runner”, Paul Hampton’s rockabilly “Headin’ For The Girl I Can’t Forget”, The Strangers “Scrambler” and The Marketts “Start” rounding off the set. A number of these were taken directly from the 1964 Liberty Records compilation “Shut Downs & Hill Climbs” (also featuring Jan & Dean and The T-Bones), although some pre-date the ‘official’ bikin’ era by a number of years (The Marketts for example first appeared, pre-surf, back in ’61). However, overall, the most enjoyable track on here is, in fact, from the Mississippi-based garage band The Gants with their wondrously raucous version of Bo Diddley’s “Road Runner” … and I think this is potentially the only reason WHY I would revisit this collection. But it bears no resemblance to the Californian surf/roddin’ craze whatsoever …

** 2-Star Recommendation

Carol Connors ? Hmmm … let’s see. She’s got one of those names that you know, but just can't put your finger on it …

Well, to inform the uninformed, Ms Connors is one of the most accomplished ‘behind-the-scenes’ ladies in American popular music. Commencing her career as a ‘Teddy Bear’ alongside Phil Spector and Marshall Leib (and, as Annette Kleinbard, hitting the Billboard heights with “To Know Him Is To Love Him” back in ’58) she then went on to write a series of classic songs, including the smasheroo “Hey Little Cobra” for Terry Melcher, Bruce Johnston and The Rip Chords (along with a number of further hot-roddin’ tracks for Dick Dale, The Zip-Codes and The Knickerbockers). However, she also continued on with her own recording career, albeit less-successful than with the Teddy Bears.

Her first ‘solo’ release, credited to Annette Bard, was

during 1960 but by 1964 she was issuing surf’n’drag compositions for herself and this collection pulls together the majority (if not all) of those, alongside her non-surf releases. The wonderful “Go Go GTO” (credited to Carol and her sister Cheryl on the original release) kicks this off, whilst the summer influences of “Swinging Summer”, “Yum Yum Yamaha” “Lonely Little Surfer Girl”, Sunny Winter” and “Sammy The Sidewalk Surfer” are also featured within the 32 tracks. It’s a shame that this set doesn’t take into consideration her compositions performed by other artists (or else we could also have been revelling in tracks not only by The Rip Chords and Dick Dale, but also The California Suns with their superb offering “Masked Grandma” … and the “Gonna Fly Now” theme from the Rocky movies !!) but it’s a really enjoyable listen at times. Sure the Teddy Bears sounding ditties of the early years are a bit sickly, but for every “My Special Boy” there’s a “Sammy The Sidewalk Surfer”… and whilst she may not be, visually, as important to the California scene of the early 60’s as, say, Annette Funicello (who is ??!) or even Donna Loren, her musical contributions are up there … or beyond.

Note: Carol also wrote and performed the immortal “We Want To Marry A Beatle” for the 1965 movie “Girls On The Beach (featuring the Beach Boys in one of their all-too rare silver screen appearances), and although the song is lip-synched by another actress, she does appear on screen … somewhere.

*** 3-Star Recommendation

Nobody can deny the importance that the Challenge label played during the peak period of the early surf era of 62/63 … but if only someone would just compile the definitive collection, to avoid the endless rehashes and the same old tracks re-appearing. Don’t get me wrong … I LOVE the Gary Usher/Four Speeds tunes, but I’ve just got them SO MANY TIMES now on various collections I’d just love a fresh approach from someone who is willing to compile the final set, and lay it all to rest.

This gathering pulls in the usual crowd of Usher tunes alongside surf/drag instrumentalists The Rhythm Rockers, Gene Moles & the Softwinds (who really burns it up), The Royal Coachmen, The Snowmen, Danny Flores and the legendary Champs. However, it’s nice to have the rarer excursions of the East Coast-based Knickerbockers with the two Carol Connors-written

hot-rod tunes included, and the golden throaty tones of Donna Loren is always welcome … but why include the pre-surf era of Jan & Dean ? Accepted, they played a vital part in the story once they hit the beaches of southern California … but “Midsummer Nights Dream” ?? How does that fit in ?

** 2-Star Recommendation